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The Northern Restaurant and Bar Conference

29th March 2008

The North will celebrate its booming hospitality market once more with the 2008 Northern Restaurant and Bar Conference, which takes place at Manchester Central on Monday 7th and Tuesday 8th April 2008.

The North boasts around 42% of all the UK’s licensed premises, which amounts to over 57,000 establishments. Despite the size of the Northern hospitality market, the Northern Restaurant and Bar Conference is the only event devoted to this thriving industry, so if you work in one of the region’s top hotels, bars, or clubs, you can’t miss this.

There will be over 7,000 guests attending this year’s conference, including directors, chief executives, proprietors, chefs, restaurant/bar managers, and bartenders. There will also be over 200 exhibitors, which include Joseph Holt, Hyde’s Brewery and Britvic.

In addition to exhibition stalls, the conference has a full programme of fulfilling seminars, workshops and demonstrations that are all aimed at helping you to improve your hospitality business. Michelin starred Marcus Wareing and Sat Bains are among the chefs doing live cookery demonstrations at the event to inspire and entertain. 

Marcus Wareing of Pétrus is also looking forward to doing some cooking at the conference. He said: “This is now my third year at Northern Restaurant and Bar and I wouldn’t miss it. It almost feels like going home as I am greeted like an old friend… by the students, exhibitors and fellow chefs. This really does put Northern cooking in the spotlight and should not be missed.” In addition to showing off his culinary skills, Marcus will be using the conference to launch his new book ‘One Perfect Ingredient’ and you’ll find him signing copies after his cookery demonstration on both days.

Coinciding with the conference are the Northern Hospitality awards, which will be held at the Lowry Hotel on the evening of Monday 7th April. Now in their third year, the awards have quickly become one of the North’s most glittering awards ceremonies. This year’s awards are bound to be some of the best yet with finalists including Manchester’s MOJO and Chester’s Bar Lounge in the Best Bar category, as well as Manchester’s Hilton and Radisson Edwardian, who are up for Best Hotel.

Winning a Northern Hospitality award can be highly beneficial for businesses in this sector, as Fiona Ashburn, Marketing Manager for Harrogate’s Rudding Park Hotel – who won the Best Hotel award last year – explains.  She said: “We were delighted to win such a prestigious award that has generated beneficial recognition within the Northern hospitality community.”
Christian Goulden - Manager of the Trio Bar & Grill in Leeds, last year’s winner of the Best Bar gong – echoed this echoed this sentiment. He said: “It gave the company a huge uplift and pushed us forward in the industry - we hope to do the same next year.”

The Northern Restaurant and Bar Conference takes place at Manchester Central on Monday 7th and Tuesday 8th April. It’s open from 10am – 5pm on Monday and 10am – 4pm on Tuesday.